baumeister



(No'ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1} L. BAUMEISTER & 0. A. BARTSOH. APPARATUSFOR SUPPLYING AND RBGULATINGTHBPRESSURE 0F GARBONIG ACID GAS IN BEERKEGS. No. 322,410.

11 uly 21, 1885.

I MIA My N PETERS.

(No Model.) I A ssnets-sheet 2. L. BAUMEISTER & G. A. BAR'TSOH.

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AND REGUL ATING THE PRESSURE 0P. OARBONIG AGIGAS IN BEER KEGS.

No. 322,410. W Patented July 21, 1885.

MIR/{W4 3 Sheets-Sheet ,3.

L. BAUMEISTER & G. A. BARTSOH.

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AND REGULATING THE PRESSURE 0P OARBONIG AGID GASIN BEER KEGS.

(No Model.)

No. 322,410. Patented July 21, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @EFICE.

LEOPOLD BAUMEISTER AND CHARLES A. BARTSOH, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONN.

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING AND REGULATING THE PRESSURE OF CARBONlC-ACID GASIN BEER-KEGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. $322,410, dated July21,1885.

Application filed April 28, 1884. (No model.)

To allwhom it may concern/:-

Be it known that we, LEOPOLD BAUMEISTER, a citizen of the Grand Duchy ofBaden, Germany, and GHAELEs A. BARTSGH, a citizen of the free town ofHamburg, Kingdom of Saxony,both residing at Bridgeport,in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Applying and Regulating Pressure WithinBeer-Kegs; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in theconstruction and application of apparatus for charging beerkegs withcarbonic-acid gas, and has for its object to regulate the supply of gas,so that there shall be a constant and uniform pressure on the beerwithin the keg, while at the same time the beer shall be preserved andkept cooled; and with these ends in view our invention consists in thedetails of construction hereinafter fully described, and thenspecifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which ourinvention appertainsmay more fully understand its construction and operation, we willproceed to describe the same in detail, refer-ring by letter to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- 7Figure 1 is a front elevation showing our improvement applied to abeer-keg; Fig. 2, a central vertical section of the supply-bottle andour improved regulating apparatus; Fig. 3, a side elevation of saidapparatus; Fig. 4, a detail elevation of the swimmer; and Fig. 5, adetail sectional view taken at the linear 00 of Fig. 1, the upperportion of the regulator and the lower portions of the equalizer anddrain-cylinders being broken away.

Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures of thedrawings.

A is the supply-bottle, which is constructed and charged withcarbonic-acid gas in the usual manner.

B is a conical valve on the end of the threaded stem 0, and D thevalve-seat.

E is the packing, which is arranged around the stem above the thread.

tion at Fig. 4,)which consists of a plunger or piston, a, adapted to fitsnugly and move up and down in said chamber. Formed integral with thispiston are extensions 6 0, through the center of which is a smallpassage, (1, having two apertures, e f, one above and one below thepartition K in the upper portion of chamber I. The extremity of theextension b forms a conical valve, 9, which is adapted to close or openthe passage L, which extends through the stop-cock M to the chamber N,in which is suspended a conical valve, h, by

means of a small steel wire adjustably secured by screw-threads on itsupper end to the internally-threaded stem 0. Near. the lower portion ofstem 0 is formed a flange, z, between LWhiCh and the nut j is confined aflexible diaphragm, B, the outer edges being secured airtight betweenthe cap Q and body R of the regulator by means of screw-bolts k. Thisdiaphragm divides the chamber formed by said cap and body into twocompartments, the lower of which contains the carbonic-acid gas, theupper being in direct communication with the outside air by means ofopening Z in the top of the cap Q, all for the purpose presentlyexplained. The stem 0 passes up through the center of the cap, which israised to form a guide for said stem. Secured to the top of the cap is alug, m, to which are pivoted two plates, at. Between the upper ends ofthese plates is pivoted'the balance-lever S, and to this lever ispivoted the upper end of stem 0. Also, to this lever is adjustablysecured a connectingrod, T, which in turn is secured to the stopcocklever U by means of 'amnuts 0, which allow an adjustment of thestop-cock lever. To the rear end of the balance-lever Sis secured anL-shaped arm, V, which is parallel ment of the diaphragm-chamber,

ure-gage L, and beer-keg.

set-screw 19. From the lower compartment of the chamber formed by cap Qand body R the passage X extends and passes around through pipe Y, andback to the vertical center of the regulator just below the chamher I,where it meets the passages A, B, and G. A leads into theequalizing-reservoir D, formed ofsheet metal, capable of sustaining apressure of from three to five pounds to the square inch. The passage 13leads to the beerkeg through a suitable rubber tube, E. At-

tached to the pipe F, forming passage B, is a depending cylinder, G,having a drain-cock, H, the use of which will be presently explained.Upon the outer end of pipe I, which forms passage 0, is mounted asafety-valve, J, of ordinary construction. The passage 0 is continuedthrough a small rubber tube, K, to a pressuregage, L. In the pipes Fandl are cocks M N, adapted to open or close the passages B O, as the casemay be. The levers q q of these cocks are pivoted at r r to theoperating-bar O, causing the said cocks to operate in unison.

From the foregoing description the operation of our improvement isobviously as follows: \Vhen the valve B has been opened sufficiently, byoperating the screw the gas, which is under great pressure-say, onethousand pounds to the square inchwill flow through the passage F to thechamber I, and raise the swimmcr J, which will cause the valve 5 toseat, thereby preventing any passage of 'the gas from said chamber untila back-pressure is caused by the gas passing through the small passage(1 in the extension I) 0 into the compartment formed by the partition Kand piston a, which will balance the piston and allow the gas togradually escape through the aperturef and passage L to the chamber N.From this chamber it flows into the lower compartand around through thepassage X to the vertical center of the regulator, as hereinbeforeexplained, and from thence into the equalizer I), press- Vhen theequalizer, keg, and diaphragm-chamber have been filled to the requiredpressuresay, five pounds to the inchthe diaphragm P will be raised,thereby carrying the stem 0 and causing the lever S to operate thestopcock M through the medium of the connecting-rod T and lever U, andclose the passage K, thus preventing any further flow of gas from thesupply-bottle until the pressure in the diaphragmchamber, equalizer, andkeg has been reduced by drawing the beer from said keg, when the gravityof the weight WV will cause the lever S to descend, thereby depressingthe diaphragm, and at the same time the connecting-rod T, which willopen the cock M and permit more gas to fiow through the passage K underthe diaphragm. The latter will then rise until an equilibrium isestablished between said gas and weight, when the cock will be againclosed and the flow of gas from the bottle cut off.

Vhen it is desirable to increase or diminish the pressure in the keg, itis only necessary to move the Weight WV backward or'forward on the leverV, which will then require greater or less pressure-on the diaphragm Pto lift said weight. The pressure in the diaphragmchamber, equalizer,and keg willat all times be indicated by the gage L, and if at any timefrom any cause the pressure in the above should increase beyond safetythe safety-valve will at once relieve this excess.

In some cases, when a new keg of beer is connected to the regulator, thepressure in the keg is found to be greater than that in the equalizer,and in such cases the keg foams or primes, and the beer rises in thepipes, but is prevented from flowing into the regulator proper by theopening leading from passage B into the cylinder G, before mentioned,from whence it is drawn off by the drain-cock H. WVhen it becomesnecessary to shut off the flow of gas in moving and replacing thebeer-kegs, or for other purposes, the bar 0 is moved backward orforward, as the case may be, thereby closing both the cocks F I.

In practice we have found it advantageous to use the equalizer I), asthe drawing of a glass of beer from the keg will not cause an immediateand severe action of the regulating mechanism, since the space thus leftwill be filled from the contents of the equalizer, whose capacity incomparison to the space occupied by the glass of beer is so large thatthe reduction of pressure will hardly influence the diaphragm, and thelatter will by a slight and easy movement compensate for this slightreduction, as will be clearly understood; but the equalizer may bedispensed with, and ablindcap screwed on in its place to close thepassage A, and the regulator coupled directly to the supply-bottle.

Having thus fully described our invention, what We claim as new anduseful is 1. In apparatus for applying and regulating pressure withinbeer-kegs and the like, a diaphragm connected to a balance-lever adaptedto operate a cock which regulates the flow of gas between the supply andkeg, in combi nation with a swimmer having a piston adapted to be raisedby the action of the high-pressure gas and a valve which regulates theescape of said gas from the swimmer-chamber to the diaphragnrchamber,substantially as specified.

2. In an apparatus as described, the diaphragm-chamber composed of twocompart- V ments separated by the diaphragm which actuates thebalance-lever to open and close the cock for regulating the flow of gasbetween the supply and keg, said diaphragm having suspended therefromthe valve h, in combination with the swimmer composed of a piston andvalve and having a central passage terminating in two openings, oneabove and the other below the partition K, for the purpose specitied.

3. In an apparatus as described, a diaphragm connected to abalance-lever adapted to operate a cock for regulating the flow of gasbetween the supply and keg, in combination with a swimmer or secondaryregulator composed of a valve and piston adapted to receive and modifythe high-pressure gas before passing to the diaphragm, as described,

4. In an apparatus for applying and regu lating pressure withinbeer-kegs, the body of the regulator having formed therein chambers I N,the former containing the swimmer-valve J, constructed as described, andthe latter the valve h, suspended as set forth, in combination with thestem 0, attached to the balance-lever S, cap Q, secured to the upperportion of the regulator and forming a chamber, air-tight diaphragm P,extending across said chamber, connecting-rod T, stopcock M, lever U,and

'ing thereon sliding weight W, rod T, lever 'U,

and cock M, substantially as set forth.

' In testimony whereof we aifix our signature in presence of twowitnesses.

LEOPOLD BAUMEISTER. CHARLES A. BARTSCH.

Witnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, W. T. HAVILAND.

